NMSU's chemical engineering department head David Rockstraw shows a working lab that was previously a closet at Jett Hall on Thursday. Rockstraw points out the impromptu ventilation system that was installed — it runs from the lab equipment to the window — so that the dangerous fumes could be removed from the workspace. (Robin Zielinski — Sun-News)

LAS CRUCES >> New Mexico State University students carry dangerous chemicals up and down the walkways of Jett Hall each day -- yet the building did not have smoke detectors in many areas until chemical engineering department head David Rockstraw spent a few hundred dollars of his own money to purchase some.

Fire sprinklers are few, and establishing good ventilation for chemical experiments requires creativity. To transport chemicals from the upperclassmen work area to a laboratory, students must walk up stairs and down hallways, past dozens of classrooms and staff offices. There is one elevator in the large, U-shaped building.

NMSU architect and campus planning officer Greg Walke talks about the serious need for renovation of Jett Hall on Saturday while standing in one of the building's hallways. The building is one of the key legislative funding requests this year. (Robin Zielinski — Sun-News)

Until Rockstraw took over, students often carried those chemicals when hallways were full. If a student dropped a cylinder of compressed hydrogen in transit, it would shoot more than 500 feet in the area and leave a trail of fire in its wake, Rockstraw said.

"It would go right through the roof like a missile," he said.

Jett Hall is one of the university's key legislative funding requests this year, along with Rentfrow Hall and Jett Annex. The university is asking legislators to include the $21.3-million renovations in a statewide general obligation bond for the public to vote on this fall.

Other requests include infrastructure upgrades at NMSU's five campuses, money for various services and institutes and support for a 3 percent compensation increase for faculty and staff.

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University officials say they don't expect to get everything on their wish list, but as the legislative session begins Tuesday, they're preparing to plead their case to state representatives. Meanwhile, Gov. Susana Martinez and the Legislative Finance Committee have submitted their own budget proposals, which meet some -- but far from all -- of NMSU's requests.

Pictured is the interior of Rentfrow Hall, formerly a women's gymnasium. The building is now home to the Human Performance, Dance and Recreation Department. The building is also part of NMSU's bond request, as the building is missing ceiling tiles and is in need of an air-conditioning system. (Robin Zielinski — Sun-News)

"We just try to get the word out what the needs are and why we're requesting what we are," said Greg Walke, NMSU architect and campus planning officer.

A piecemeal approach

Jett Hall, built in the 1950s and 1960s on NMSU's Horseshoe, has been fixed by piecemeal as problems arise, Walke said.

"We know it needs to be renovated because we remodel it so much," he said. "We spend so much money doing little projects in the building to make it work."

Jett Hall is only required to meet the building's codes from the year it was constructed, more than five decades ago. It also falls short of Americans with Disabilities Act standards.

"The codes have moved on, and the building hasn't," Walke said.

Staff have attached ventilation ducts to connect windows with workspaces where hazardous chemicals are used and have put holes in floors then attached pipes to drainage lines to expel runoff from safety showers. Some labs have computers from the 1990s.

"We've had to be very creative in the way we've put the building together for our needs," Rockstraw said.

While Jett Hall has deteriorated, the chemical engineering program has expanded drastically. Graduate student enrollment alone went from 29 students to 56 in two years.

Dozens of undergraduate juniors and seniors share one work space, about the size of a volleyball court. Tables with experiments are pushed aside and rearranged as needed, Rockstraw said.

He has converted closets into laboratories to accommodate the increase.

If the Legislature agrees to NMSU's capital outlay request, Rockstraw and Walke say the piecemeal approach to Jett Hall can end and the building can be redesigned to be a safe, top-notch space for students to use.

Many high schools in the area have nicer spaces than this, Walke said.

"When kids from the Early College High School come here, they're not pleased with what they see," he said.

Renovations would likely not expand space for the departments, but officials hope a redesigned building would be more efficient.

"The hope is, through more efficient and better arrangement of space, we'll be able to accommodate more people," Walke said.

Rentfrow Hall

Rentfrow Hall is also part of NMSU's bond request. The building houses the Human Performance, Dance and Recreation Department.

The department's kinesiology program alone has expanded from 28 students a decade ago to 360 students this year.

"That has really put a lot of pressure on our facilities," department head Bob Wood said.

The 1950s building, where dance students often hold performances, has one women's toilet. Dance students practice in the gymnasium. There is no heating or cooling system, and students regularly suffer heat-related injuries and heatstroke in warmer months -- as do audience members, Wood said.

Ceiling tiles also fall occasionally, leaving the ceiling looking like a Battleship gameboard.

"No one has been hit by a ceiling tile yet," Wood said.

Bond funds, augmented by private donations, would update the building and allocate space more efficiently, officials said.

Faculty, staff salaries

NMSU is also asking the Legislature to support a 3 percent pay increase for faculty and staff, continuing university efforts to bring salaries up to par with national medians.

The Legislative Finance Committee budget proposal includes only a 1.5 percent increase.

The university is also asking for $20 million in nonrecurring funding for the Higher Education Endowment to fund scholarships and endowed faculty chairs.

Martinez has proposed $7.5 million solely for professorships.

Many federal research dollars now require the state to match national funds, Carruthers said. Without those matching funds, the university won't get those dollars.

Math funds are "a very attractive way for us to raise money for endowed chairs, which then allow us to recruit top faculty members," he said. "The prestige of a university is in having these endowed chairs, and the federal government likes to see that."

The university will also advocate for a solation to the foundering Lottery Scholarship Fund, including raising the standards required to earn the scholarship and lowering how much money students receive.

NMSU officials say they're optimistic about receiving more funding from the Legislature than in previous, tight-budget years.

"The Legislature's got some money to spend, and they're trying to reinvest again," NMSU lobbyist Ricardo Rel said. "Higher education is one of those areas they're trying to reinvest in."